Mobile Suit Gundam: Object UC 0095
by Karl the Artillery Piece
Summary: As Anaheim Electronics continued their UC project, the Strategic Naval Institute, or SNRI, had plans of their own. Two young MS pilots find themselves dragged into a mess and a conspiracy which puts Side 3, Earth, and everyone in between in its crosshairs. The Battle to end All Battles is about to begin.
1. Chapter 1

Universal Century year 0095. Sixteen years ago, the Earth and its colonies waged a bloody war against each other, called the One Year War. Since then, tensions between those who lived in space and those who lived on Earth constantly bred new conflict. Just recently, remnants of the Principality of Zeon attempted to cause a nuclear winter on Earth.

Two years had passed since then.

The colony cluster of Side 3 is now but a shadow of its former self. Independent in name only, they more or less remained a puppet of the Earth Federation government.

Meanwhile, remnants of the Neo-Zeon movements, known as The Sleeves, continued their terrorist activities on Federation military instillations.

Our story begins here.

XXXXX

Side 3 (Republic of Zeon)

Capital Bunch

Warrant Officer Eric Lagiorr sat in the cockpit of his RMS-106 Hizack observing his surroundings. The hanger of the Musai-class cruiser echoed with the sounds of machinery and mechanics. Next to his Hizack, Eric could see a number of parts floating past via the 360 degree display.

He heard someone tapping on the machine's cockpit.

Accompanied by a hissing sound, the cockpit swung outward to reveal a soldier wearing a green and gold uniform and field cap. Eric casually waved at the figure.

"Ensign Krupp," said he.

"Ready for the next OP, Warrant Officer Lagiorr?" Krupp asked. Eric lifted himself out of the cockpit of the Hizack and floated next to the Ensign.

"Investigating another ancient debris field?" Eric asked. "Please tell me it's not. I've had enough of those." Krupp laughed in response.

"Well, you're in luck then," Krupp said. "We received a report of a Federation transport vessel going missing between Side 3 and the moon. We've been tasked with investigating the area."

Eric rolled his eyes.

"A Fed ship missing?" he said. "Sounds like Neo-Zeon to me. If they're out in force we won't stand a chance!"

"Which is why there will be a Fed cruiser rendezvousing with us at the specified point," Krupp replied. "Though I heard they're bringing a number of training squadrons too. That worries me."

The two arrived at a locker, where they began to trade their uniforms for normal suits.

"Trainees?" Eric asked. "Are they insane?"

Krupp shrugged.

"That's the Earth Federation for you," Krupp concluded. "Sending little kids into battle in armored coffins since 0079."

XXXXX

A few hours later…

A warning alarm sounded, jolting Eric as he sat in the Hizack's cockpit. He switched the 360 degree monitor on and observed his surroundings.

A screen popped up in front of him.

"You awake, Warrant Officer?" Krupp asked.

Eric nodded.

"Yes sir," said he. "Are we here?"

The sound of the hanger opening echoed through the speakers.

"Indeed we are," Krupp replied. "Alright fellas, we're about to enter launching procedures. I'll see you all outside."

A chorus of "yes sir" responded to his words. Krupp nodded in approval.

One by one, the Hizacks left the ship, floating in empty space for a second before forming up alongside the Musai-class cruiser.

Eric's Hizack arrived in the formation, sliding a spare magazine he brought onto the machine's side skirt as it formed up.

"Everyone here?" Krupp asked.

All the pilots affirmed their presence.

"So far so good…" Krupp muttered to himself. Then he tapped on a button on his control panel, sending a stream of data towards the other machines.

"Alright fellas, listen up," Krupp said. "At 0900 this morning, the Earth Federation Space Force lost contact with one of its transports heading to Side 3 from Granada. The transport itself reportedly carries cargo belonging to the Strategic Naval Research Institute, or SNRI."

The blueprints of an Antietam-class transport and its planned route appeared on Eric's controls.

"Now," Krupp continued. "The Feds lost contact with the ship right around where we are right now. Because of possible Neo-Zeon involvement, the EFSF sent a heavy cruiser to rendezvous with us. Our job is to investigate the site before the Feds arrive and, once they do, protect the transport they had been escorting for the duration of the mission. That transport is carrying a whole bunch of nugget trainees."

Krupp's Hizack shifted its gaze towards Eric's Hizack.

"Just like this kid."

"Hey!" Eric pouted. The rest of the platoon laughed in response. Of course, Eric himself was no longer a trainee, but many of his squad mates made fun of him because of his young age.

A 15 year old MS pilot rarely survives long.

"Anyways," Krupp concluded. "Look alive boys. We've arrived."

The entire area in front of them was riddled with debris. Bits and pieces of ship hull, mobile suit parts, and human limbs calmly floated in the empty space.

"Damn," a pilot said. "Whoever did this surely did a number to that poor transport."

"You got that right," another said. "This is Schleswig 2, this sector is clear. No enemies detected."

"Schleswig 4 here. No signs of enemy activity."

"Schleswig 5, same here."

"Schleswig 1 to Schleswig 3, Warrant Officer Lagiorr, you find anything?"

"Schleswig 3 to Schleswig 1, I think I found one of the ship's hangers. Looks like there's a mobile suit inside."

Eric's Hizack shifted its monoeye to look at Krupp.

"Shall I dig the thing out, sir?"

"Negative Schleswig 3, leave that to the Feds," Krupp replied.

He looked around nervously.

"I don't like the look of this place…" he said to himself.

"Scratch my previous order, Schleswig 3. You have permission to recover the mobile suit," Krupp ordered. "The rest of you, fan out. We'll never know if the enemy are hiding here or not."

"Roger that," everyone replied. The platoon fanned out as Eric began to dig the unknown mobile suit out of the debris.

That was when it happened.

"Captain! Minovsky particles increasing in density! Possible en-*static*-y units nearby! All u-*static*-s stay alert! They could come from any-*static*"

A bright pink explosion accompanied the sudden end of the transmission.

"Schleswig 5!" Krupp exclaimed. "W.O. Lagiorr! Hurry up with that mobile suit! We've got company!"

As if on cue, five streaks of light zoomed across the debris field, shifting their course so as to approach the four Hizacks.

"Geara Dogas! Neo-Zeon forces!" Schleswig 2 exclaimed.

"Schleswig 2! 4!" Krupp called. "You have permission to engage the enemy mobile suits! Return fire immediately!"

"Yes sir!" the two replied, before spitting a hailstorm of 120mm shells from their machine guns. The approaching MS evaded the fire from the pair of Hizacks, though one Doga took a hit to its shoulder armor, and zoomed toward the formation. Yellow beams zipped past the Hizacks, ripping apart the debris behind them.

More yellow beams zipped past, this time from the Musai.

"Ensign!" the Musai's captain said. "Get out of the-*static*! We have det-*static*-more enemy contacts moving in fast! *static*-immediately! Repeat! Get-*static*!"

A large yellow beam pierced the bridge of the cruiser. More beams followed, blowing apart the engines, turrets, and other sections which still remained.

"Fuck!" Schleswig 2 exclaimed. "We lost our ship!"

"Hold on guys!" Krupp exclaimed. "The Fed ship is almost here! We need to hold out until they arrive!"

A number of Gaza-C MS fired on the Hizacks.

"AAAAGH-!"

"Schleswig 4!"

"Schleswig 3! You done yet!?"

"Almost done sir!"

With a great pull, Eric's Hizack managed to tear off the last bit of debris covering the unknown suit.

"Ensign Krupp!" Eric called. "I'm done!"

"Good!" Krupp said. "Ditch the Hizack and climb into the other suit! We'll cover you until you reach the cruiser!"

"Right!"

With a hiss, the cockpit of Eric's Hizack opened, Eric floating out of it. Time seemed to stop.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"-ow!"

Eric rubbed his shoulder as he made contact with the suit. Upon finding the external lever, he pulled it firmly, opening the hatch with a hiss.

A blinding flash made Eric flinch.

He looked up to find a beam dissipating inches above his position.

A pink beam.

"Ensign!" Eric exclaimed. "They're here! The Feds are here!"

Krupp's Hizack looked over to where the beam originated.

"About fucking time!" Krupp exclaimed.

A Federation RGM-89 Jegan flew past the three Hizacks before firing on the Neo-Zeon forces.

"Ensign! I'm in!" Eric said. "Starting the suit!"

XXXXX

The cockpit of the unknown suit closed with a hiss. Eric removed his helmet and breathed in the air within the cockpit.

It smelled a little bit like smoke, but not enough to kill him.

"Right then," Eric said to himself. He removed the gloves of his normal suit so as to get used to the new suit.

"Where is the power…?"

Eric laid his hand on the touch panel, hoping for some sort of activation.

He felt a shock run through his body.

"…!?"

Surprised, Eric recoiled his hand back from the panel. A humming noise followed as the suit began to activate.

"Ouch," Eric said to himself. "Wonder what that was about."

He immediately selected the suit's primary thrusters in order to get himself, and his platoon, out of this mess…

…only to find the propellant tanks empty.

"Damn it!" Eric exclaimed. "Ensign! The propellant tanks are empty! I'm going to need to drag the thing with my Hizack!"

A crackling voice responded, indicating the rising levels of Minovsky particles.

"I don't care! Just do whatever you have to do to get us out of here!" Krupp exclaimed through the comms.

XXXXX

Eric's Hizack grabbed the arm of the unknown mobile suit. By now, the Federation forces had seemingly fended off the Neo-Zeon attackers, though Fed forces seemed to be taking losses themselves.

Another Hizack exploded.

"Schleswig 2!"

"Up above!" a Fed pilot exclaimed. "Here come more Zekes!"

Thick streaks of green light burrowed themselves through the formation of mobile suits. Their source, ten Gaza-D mobile suits, fired a barrage of missiles at their enemies. Pink beams, 120mm shells, and 60mm shells flew up in return, blasting the majority of the missiles into oblivion.

But they had forgotten about the beam cannons.

A green beam struck the left arm of Krupp's Hizack, melting the arm off before causing the arm to explode.

"AAARGH!" Krupp yelled, trying to keep the suit in control after the explosion. "Fuck! That hurt!"

An Earth Federation Jegan floated up to the two Hizacks, still firing its rifle at the Neo-Zeon forces.

"You guys go back to our ship!" said the pilot. "We'll handle it here!"

Krupp's Hizack nodded.

"Thanks," replied Eric, before the two Hizacks gunned their thrusters toward the Alexandria-class cruiser, the unknown mobile suit in tow.

Eric sighed a breath of relief, before an alarm blared inside the cockpit.

Hoping the alarm was not for something he was thinking of, Eric zoomed in on the two Federation ships ahead of him.

It was as he had feared.

"Ensign!" Eric exclaimed. "The Fed fleet is under attack! Those trainees are getting shot to bits!"

XXXXX

About one hour ago…

Space between Granada and Side 3

Antietam-class transport ship

Amelia Falkenhayn floated through the corridor, enjoying the zero gravity environment. It felt liberating to not be constantly be weighed down by everything, literally. Behind her, Amelia's classmates struggled to keep their orientation in the zero gravity environment.

"Amy!" one of the classmates called. "Wait up!"

Amelia turned around, her short hair floating a bit behind her as she did so.

"You guys are just slow," said she. "It's just more training. We'll be fine!"

"The last time the ship sailed to Side 3 it got attacked by pirates!" the classmate exclaimed.

Indeed, his statement was true. Back in 0085, the ship, carrying students from the Ecole du Ciel, came under attack from a band of Zeon remnants, resulting in the complete destruction of the ship's escorts and the death of a number of students and instructors.

"But that was years ago," another classmate countered. "Zeon is gone now. It won't happen again."

The first classmate shook his head.

"I'm not so sure," said he.

Amelia sighed and returned her attention to what lay ahead of her. To be honest, she too worried about possible attacks on the ship. Sure, an Alexandria-class cruiser was escorting them, but even the Alexandria-class had reached its limit by now.

Even with newer mobile suits on board, what good would they do?

Amelia felt her head strike something hard.

"Ow!"

It seemed like she had unconsciously floated into the hanger.

Amelia looked up and eyed one of the mobile suits in the hanger.

In the back stood a strange mobile suit. It sported a greenish color, with two beam sabre hilts jutting out of the shoulders.

While everyone else received GMIII trainer types, Amelia had the "misfortune" of being assigned to a random surplus mobile suit.

Perhaps no one liked the MSS-009 Gemaux because of a lack of spare parts.

Amelia pushed herself up to the location of the cockpit. The cockpit opened itself with a hiss before Amelia slipped inside.

The cockpit hissed closed.

Amelia sighed.

"Finally," she said. "Some peace and quiet."

XXXXX

Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious

Bridge

"Captain," an Earth forces crew member called. "We have strange heat signatures up ahead."

Captain Charles Emden, commander of the Heavy Cruiser Illustrious, sat himself down in the captain's seat.

"Can you identify?" Emden asked. The crew member nodded and typed some things on his terminal.

"Oh," he said in relief. "Just a number of Hizacks and a Musai."

Noticing the Captain's raised eyebrows, he added "Republic of Zeon forces."

Emden sighed.

"Good," said he. "Establish contact with them. Tell them that we'll take over now."

"Yes sir," the crew member replied.

The ships drew closer.

"Wait…" Emden muttered. "Is the Musai firing at something?" Another crew member looked in the general direction as well.

"Now that you mention it sir…"

Suddenly the Musai exploded into a massive fireball. Beams and machine gun tracers crisscrossed their view.

"Shit!" the Captain exclaimed. "Those guys are under attack! All hands to battle stations! What's the size of the enemy!?"

"Around a company, sir!"

"Good! Launch all mobile suits! Cover the Hizacks on their retreat!"

"Yes sir!"

XXXXX

Antietam-class transport

Amelia jumped in surprise. A loud alarm was blaring outside, red lights flooding the cockpit.

"What the hell!?"

The cockpit opened with a hiss and Amelia floated out into the hanger.

The ship shook.

"Nobody panic!" a crew member yelled. "Everyone get in a mobile suit! Now!"

Amelia looked down to see her classmates floating toward their respective mobile suits. Some cried. Others simply looked scared.

"We're under attack, aren't we?" Amelia said to herself.

She dived back into the cockpit, switching on the suit's power as she did so.

A voice crackled through the intercoms.

"Bridge! I'm heading out in a trainer!"

"Good luck trainee!"

"Yes sir!"

A GMIII Trainer catapulted itself out of the ship. The moment it exited the ship, however, a yellow beam struck the suit's torso, melting right through it. The GM exploded, sending fragments and debris straight into the bridge.

A Zeon mobile suit flew past, punching another beam into the Antietam-class.

The beam punched through the hanger, striking a number of propellant tanks, ammunition, and personnel. The hanger suddenly became engulfed in flames, screams echoing over the sound of air escaping from the ship.

"Shit!"

Realizing her situation, Amelia tore the locking arms off the Gemaux's arms.

The Gemaux's 60mm Vulcans shot the roof apart, exposing the open space outside. Amelia kicked the thrusters forward and the Gemaux busted itself out of the burning hull of the Antietam-class.

The suit flailed a bit before regaining its balance.

Amelia's breathing became ragged. Beams flew at her from all directions.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

A yellow beam streaked past, inches from the Gemaux's head.

"The shuttles!" Amelia exclaimed.

The Gemaux's thrusters punched forward in the direction of a number of shuttles which had escaped the wreck of the Antietam-class. A number of escape pods had been launched as well.

Yellow beams struck the escape pods.

Amelia could not help but clap her hands to her mouth in horror.

Another training GM exploded. The screams of the students and crew alike echoed through the now chaotic intercoms.

"Amelia!" a voice called.

Amelia turned around to find a GM III flying towards her.

"Instructor Barns!"

"Go find a beam rifle!" Barns exclaimed. "And make sure those shuttles make it to-!"

Before he could finish, a beam punched itself straight through the cockpit of the GM III.

Amelia gunned the thrusters of her Gemaux in horror. The GM exploded, sending its beam rifle floating in the direction of Amelia's Gemaux.

She caught the rifle and proceeded to fire it in the direction of the Neo-Zeon attackers.

XXXXX

"Here you go," Eric said as he dropped the unknown mobile suit onto the Alexandria-class's catapult deck.

"Ensign, leave the rest to me."

Krupp sighed as he landed on the Alexandria-class.

"Fine," he said finally. "Don't get yourself killed."

Eric's Hizack gave a brief salute before it zoomed towards the Antietam-class. Some shuttles had managed to escape the burning and exploding wreck of the transport. A number of mobile suits floated around the shuttles, beams firing in every direction.

A beam tore straight through one of the GMs. The exploding suit sent debris straight into one of the shuttles it had been escorting, causing it to explode.

"Damn trainees," Eric said to himself.

He gunned the Hizack's thrusters as much as the machine would allow him to, praying the thrusters will hold out.

The monoeye of a Gaza-D flashed as it noticed the Hizack's approach. Eric clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Out of my way, you little shit!" he exclaimed.

The Gaza-D launched a beam from its cannon in Eric's direction. The Hizack rolled under the beam, monoeye flashing mockingly. Eric shifted the suit's weight to avoid another beam before pouring 120mm shells into the enemy suit.

Eric's Hizack zoomed past as the Gaza-D exploded.

XXXXX

"Fucking hell!"

Amelia's Gemaux punched another beam into an enemy mobile suit before snatching the suit's beam rifle. She hated how she constantly needed to grab another beam weapon every time the one she used ran empty.

A projectile struck a shuttle, causing the shuttle to explode.

"Snipers!?"

The Gemaux shifted its gaze over to a sector of empty space, where the sensors picked up at least one suit bombarding the shuttles from long range.

That Geara Doga could cause some serious problems.

Thankfully, the beam rifle Amelia happened to have picked up was a Gaza-D's beam cannon.

It did not matter. A Jegan arrived to shoot the poor Geara Doga apart.

For once, the alarms inside the suit stopped blaring. Amelia took a relieved breath, finally able to relax.

Then a Dreissen armed with a beam javelin appeared in front of the Gemaux's face.

"HOLY FU-!?"

The Gemaux flailed back in fear, firing the head-mounted Vulcans in an attempt to do something against the enemy suit.

The Dreissen raised its beam spear, ready to strike.

Voices called to Amelia.

"Amelia!"

"Amelia-senpai!"

"Amy!"

"Falkenhayn!"

Amelia closed her eyes, hoping for the end to be quick.

Then…

 _"Goddamn trainees rushing to their deaths."_  
A smashing sound echoed through the cockpit. Amelia opened her eyes, which widened in shock soon after.

A Hizack had smashed itself against the Dreissen, its monoeye flashing in acknowledgment of the Gemaux's presence. The Dreissen swing its javelin, slicing the Hizack's machine gun in half. A flash blinded Amelia for a second as the machine gun exploded. Then she heard another smashing noise. The Hizack had kicked the javelin out of the Dreissen's hand, sending the weapon flying into empty space. The Hizack reached for one of the beam sabres on its backpack. Once drawn, it swung the sabre in the Dreissen's direction, melting off the Dreissen's right arm.

The Dreissen's monoeye flashed before the suit retreated.

A transmission crackled through the intercom.

"Current pilot of the Gemaux!" one of the operators of the Illustrious called. "Are you all right?"

Amelia nodded.

"Y-Yes sir," said she. "I'm fine."

She shifted her attention to the Hizack in front of her, which had just switched off its beam sabre, storing it on its backpack.

Amelia switched her intercom channel.

"Um," she stuttered. "Thanks for-,"

"Don't mention it," the pilot of the Hizack replied. Amelia could not help but recoil back in surprise.

That pilot.

How old was he?

XXXXX

Eric removed his helmet, sighing in relief as he did so.

"Right," said he, shifting his course to the Alexandria-class.

"It's finally over."

* * *

Author's notes: Right, let's try my hand at a Gundam UC again.

Hi guys, Karl the Arty here.

Welcome to my new Gundam UC fic. Since I have decided to write over 3000 words per chapter, update times will be more inconsistent than usual. Thank you for you cooperation.

Thanks, and I hope you read this fic again.

-SPSH Karl


	2. Chapter 2

"All hands, clear the way! We've got Mobile Suits landing!"

"Get the wounded on board! Now!"

"There's an air leakage! Seal the bulkheads!"

A chaotic atmosphere filled the Illustrious' hanger. Orders flew left and right; mechanics rushed to retrieve damaged Mobile Suits; medics attempted to save as many lives as they could.

It looked as if a war had occurred.

Amelia Falkenhayn and her now unarmed Gemaux slowly floated towards the Illustrious, burning some of its thrusters now and then to maintain its course. A number of shuttles from the now destroyed Antietam-class also landed on the catapult deck.

Needless to say, she was horrified, but also glad to be alive.

XXXXX

Eric's Hizack landed on the catapult deck with a slight thud. The Illustrious's crew led his Hizack to a specific area on the catapult deck, out of the way of the actual catapult.

Eric opened the hatch of his Mobile Suit.

He let himself drift out of the cockpit towards one of the crew, who led Eric towards the nearest hatch into the MS hanger.

Once in, Eric took a brief look around at the hanger.

Most of the Illustrious's Mobile Suits seemed to have made it back (not that there were many to begin with), but all open spaces had been taken by the Antietam's Mobile Suits. Body bags floated about everywhere.

Eric shook his head in disgust.

It seemed the crew of this ship preferred to, or most likely ordered to, prioritize the recovery of the mysterious Mobile Suit over the students they had been escorting.

"…and this is what happens," Eric concluded. He sighed before landing near the closest airlock.

XXXXX

 **Somewhere nearby**

 **Musaka-class cruiser Scharnhorst**

 **Bridge**

 _"I dare say, Lieutenant-Colonel Reuter,"_ a voice said. _"This is a rather disappointing result. Your men failed to capture a single Mobile Suit from an already destroyed Federation ship."_

A man, wearing a typical Zeon-style military uniform, trench coat, and eyepatch, replied.

"It does not help that the orders given lacked any sort of clarity, Colonel Stavka" said Reuter. Stavka scoffed at this statement.

 _"On that end I apologize,"_ he said. _"We did not expect the Minovsky particles in your sector to be as dense as they were."_

Reuter nodded his head.

"We also did not expect that Musai," said he. "That ship, and her Mobile Suits, managed to hold off a decent portion of our forces, AND warn the other two Fed ships."

Stavka pondered this for a second, before turning his head towards the other man in the room.

 _"Lieutenant Justensen,"_ Stavka said. _"How does it feel, fighting in the Earth Sphere for the first time?"_

The man standing behind Reuter, Justensen, gave this question a thought before replying.

"It is hard to describe," Justensen replied. "It feels better fighting here than on Mars."

He took a brief look around in slight suspicion before returning his attention to the Colonel on the screen.

"I trust the high command back on Mars has contacted you?" he asked. Stavka nodded in reply. A young officer handed a thin file to Stavka, who thanked him for the favor. He returned his attention to the two men.

 _"The requested reinforcements are due to arrive as planned,"_ Stavka said. _"After that, we simply need to unite the remaining remnants in the Earth Sphere and the prerequisites will be complete."_

Reuter shifted his hat in unease.

"Are you sure we do not need to tell Colonel Frontal about this?" he asked. "With the Second Coming of Char in our ranks, Zeon remnants will surely flock to our cause."

Stavka scoffed at this.

 _"You are quite mistaken, Reuter,"_ said he. _"A single man is not enough to unite spacenoids to our cause. What we need is a symbol. Men come and go through the ages, but an idea, decisive action, or even an object will weather through the trials of time. Only these are good enough to serve as a symbol to rally our people."_

Reuter remained silent.

Suddenly, one of the CIC operators in the bridge turned around to face Reuter.

"Lieutenant-Colonel," said he. "We just received word from our scouts. They have spotted the Federation's Alexandria-class cruiser in a nearby debris zone."

He paused for a second.

"Your orders, sir?"

Reuter turned to the large screen in the bridge. On the screen, Stavka nodded before the screen cut back to a map of the Earth Sphere.

"Prepare to launch Mobile Suits," he ordered. "Navigator. Set a course for that debris field. Make sure you get close without them noticing. CIC. Tell our scouts to reconfirm the position of the enemy cruiser. We don't want to strike blindly. Fire control. Bring all our weapons online. It may only be just one cruiser, but I do not want to take any chances. Now get moving, all of you!"

Reuter then turned towards Justensen, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What will you do?" Reuter asked. "Knight of Mars?"

Justensen smirked in response.

"Prepare my Dreissen!" he ordered. "I'm heading out!"

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious**

 **Captain's Quarters**

Eric and Krupp stood in front of the door leading to the Captain's quarters within the Illustrious. Eric, slightly nervous, fiddled with the buttons on his uniform. As he did so, Krupp put his hand on Eric's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down; it worked.

Captain Emden soon emerged from his quarters, noting the presence of the two Republic of Zeon soldiers as he did so.

"Sorry for the wait, gentlemen," said he. "Please. Come in."

The two soldiers entered the Captain's quarters, taking in the environment as they did so.

The room, fairly larger than most on the ship, had a number of bookshelves filled with various objects. A single computer monitor sat on a desk near the back of the room, next to a door which leads to the Captain's sleeping quarters.

Emden sat down in the chair behind his desk, placing his hat on a hanger next to him as he did so.

"At ease," said he. "I have already been briefed about the situation. I am Charles Emden; I'm the Captain of this ship. My subordinates have already submitted their reports about what the hell just happened, but I want to hear what happened from your point of view."

Emden narrowed his eyes.

"You lot were the first at the scene, after all."

Krupp could not help but narrow his eyes in return.

XXXXX

Within minutes, the two had exited the Captain's quarters and began walking towards the zero-gravity area of the ship. Eric's expression remained stone cold as Krupp attempted to put Eric at ease.

"They had orders, Warrant Officer," Krupp said. "You know as well as I do that they can't disobey that easily."

Eric lowered his eyes in response.

"I know, sir," said he. "It just pisses me off, how they can just leave those students alone in a situation like that."

"I guess they thought the Antietam's Mobile Suits would be enough," Krupp replied. "The world is a fucked up place, Warrant Officer. You just have to learn to deal with it."

The two jumped out of the gravity block.

"It still pisses me off," Eric said. Krupp could only sigh in return.

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious**

 **Mobile Suit Hanger**

Mr. Nikola Vistula of Anaheim Electronics was very much displeased. For over an hour the Illustrious's mechanics attempted to activate the recovered Mobile Suit, but all efforts ended in failure.

"What is taking you so long!?" Vistula exclaimed. "It's already been ages!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vistula," one of the mechanics said. "There seems to be a lock in the system and we can't get it to come off."

Vistula sighed at this reply.

"Very well," said he. "We will have to continue this back on Von Braun: at the headquarters of Anaheim Electronics."

"How about the kids?" another mechanic asked. "We need to drop them off, right?"

"They can go back to Earth from Von Braun," Vistula replied. "It's a win-win situation, I presume."

As Vistula and the mechanics continued to talk, some of the other crew could only look on in disgust.

"A civilian giving orders to military personnel," said one. "Isn't that against regulations?"

"Anaheim has a lot of influence in the government," another replied. "We don't really have much of a choice."

XXXXX

"Amelia!"

"Amy!"

"Amelia-senpai!"

Amelia Falkenhayn turned around to face three of her classmates. One wore a miniskirt under her uniform, and had her hair cut short. Another was slightly shorter than her, with blonde hair arranged in two braids and wearing glasses. The third was a boy, with black hair and green eyes.

"Oh," Amelia said, her expression softening slightly. "Hey guys. Is everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," the first girl said. "Physically, at least. Leila here seemed to have been shitting her pants, though."

"No I wasn't!" the second girl, Leila, replied. "Your screaming didn't help either, Ange!"

The first girl, Ange, scoffed at this statement.

"That was just… me being caught off guard!" she stammered. Ange then pointed at the boy next to her.

"Brandon managed to get a kill, actually," she said. The boy, Brandon smiled a little before replying.

"Yup," said he. "I don't remember what exactly it was. I think it was a Gaza-type MS."

He then sighed in defeat.

"Amelia downed more than I did, though," said he, to which Ange clapped her hands.

"Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed. "How many did you get? Two? Three?"

Amelia looked away from her friends. She seemed to whisper something, but Ange still managed to hear her.

"Come one, Amy," Ange said. "How many?"

Amelia's expression darkened.

"…Five," she managed to whisper.

Silence engulfed the group.

Ange's jaw dropped in amazement.

"Wow," said she, her mouth still wide open in amazement. "I thought our GM IIIs are better than your Gemaux. I guess it really is about the pilots."

Leila nodded in agreement.

"You really are amazing, senpai," said she. "I guess I need to improve, too."

"Still," Brandon said. "Five kills, huh. I guess you're already an ace now.

Everyone, except Amelia, nodded in agreement. Amelia could not help but not feel as upbeat about all this.

Suddenly, a voice cut Amelia out of her thoughts.

"Correction," the voice said. "She got seven kills and damaged two more."

Surprised, the group turned around to find another boy, right around their age, floating towards them.

The boy, wearing an easily recognizable green-and-gold uniform, grabbed onto a nearby railing to stop himself from floating any further.

"That's a pretty decent feat, even for a regular pilot," Eric Lagiorr said. "Don't expect it to last long."

Before Amelia could say anything, Eric kicked off the railing and floated towards one of the MS mechanics.

Brandon clicked his teeth in disgust.

"Zeon piece of shit," said he. "Doesn't he know that it's their fault we got into this mess?"

"B-Brandon, please," Leila stuttered. "Don't just make accusations!"

Ange, meanwhile, noticed Amelia's behavior; she seemed to be staring towards the direction the Zeon pilot floated towards.

A mischievous smile crept its way across Ange's face.

"Well, Amy," she teased. "What's this? I guess you like those kinds of boys? Hmm?"

"Wait, what!?" Amelia exclaimed in shock and surprise. "No! That's not it! That's not it at all! It's just…"

Amelia lowered her eyes.

"Never mind," she finished. "Let's go to our quarters. I feel like shit right now."

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class Cruiser Illustrious**

 **Captain's Quarters**

Captain Emden sat in his chair, busy reading the files of the students who evacuated from the Antietam. He sighed, putting the files aside before leaning back in his chair.

"So most of the students have fairly good proficiency in Mobile Suit training," he said to himself. "But only four student MS are left: Two GM III trainers, a GM Canard, and a Gemaux."

Emden tapped a few keys on his computer before tapping on the intercom.

"MS Hanger?" he called. "Get me Lieutenant Prezan on the line. Tell her that she has a job she needs to do."

Emden paused, listening for a few seconds, before speaking again.

"Then take Warrant Officer Lagiorr with you," said he. "He is in their age group, is he not? Put him the squad just for some protection."

XXXXX

 **Alexander-class Cruiser Illustrious**

 **Briefing Room**

"All right, listen up," a young woman in an Earth Federation Space Force uniform said. "I'm Ioana Prezan; my rank is Lieutenant. The Captain of this ship has ordered me to train you guys up to regular army level until we manage to get to Von Braun. A decent number of our boys are still around, but when shit hits the fan we'll need you guys to be able to fight."

Amelia, Ange, Leila, and Brandon all nodded in acknowledgement. Prezan smiled at this.

"Nice response," said she. "Now. For your first mission with me we will be going on a simple reconnaissance mission. During said mission, I will pull you guys out in pairs to help cover more area. You guys did well during that skirmish earlier, but you need to learn how to work as a team."

Prezan exhaled, slightly tired from her explanation.

"Any questions?" she asked.

Brandon raised his hand, to which Prezan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked before Brandon responded.

"Um," Brandon began, a slightly disappointed look on his face. "Why do we have to train with _him_?" He pointed at Eric, who sat a few rows behind the group.

Prezan sighed at this question.

"He will be in charge of making sure those of you that I'm not busy training stay alive," she replied. Prezan switched her focus to Eric.

"You got that?" she asked him. Eric nodded in return.

"Loud and clear," said he. Prezan nodded in approval.

"Good," said she. "Meet me outside of the hanger with your Mobile Suits. That includes you, _Warrant Officer_."

Eric, realizing what the Lieutenant was trying to do, smiled slightly before responding.

"Yes ma'am," said he, before opening and leaving the room through a nearby door.

Brandon, meanwhile, had a shocked expression on his face.

"Wait…" he stammered. "That guy is an actual commissioned officer…?"

Prezan, smiling slightly at Brandon's expression, nodded in response.

Brandon looked around at his friends, whom all displayed annoyed expressions.

"You guys knew!?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Rank insignias," Leila replied.

"But they're Zeon insignias!" Brandon countered.

"Yeah, but we learned how to identify them in class," Ange said. "Weren't you paying attention?"

Brandon sulked down in his chair in defeat, while Amelia sighed at the entire development.

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious**

 **Bridge**

"We have a report from our scout squadrons," a CIC officer announced. "They are currently being engaged by enemy snipers and are returning to the ship.

The CIC officer turned around to face Captain Emden.

"They claim they have sustained heavy casualties, sir," the CIC officer said.

Emden nodded at this report.

"Which squadrons are currently out on sortie?" Emden asked. "We need as many of them back on the ship as we can."

"Other than our current escorts, the only squadron out on sortie is Lieutenant Prezan's training squadron."

"What!? Get them back here! Now!"

"We can't raise them, sir! Minovsky particles are increasing in density!"

Emden slammed his fist down on his chair.

"Damn it!"

XXXXX

 **Nearby sector**

"Illustrious!? Illustrious, come in!"

"*static*"

"Fuck!"

Lieutenant Prezan was obviously not amused by this development. The scanners on her RGM-89 Jegan failed to pick up anything significant, but something was not right.

Brandon's GM III trainer latched onto Prezan's Jegan.

"What's going on, Lieutenant?" Brandon asked. Prezan shook her head in reply.

"No idea," said she. "Minovsky particles here are too dense; I can't contact the Illustrious."

Leila's GM Canard floated over to Brandon.

"Does that mean we're…?" Leila began, but was cut off when Ange's GM III trainer floated over to Leila.

"No it doesn't, you dolt!" Ange exclaimed. "All we need to do now is get back to the ship and we will be fine."

"But Ange," Amelia asked, her Gemaux floating towards the group. "How do we do that?"

"What?" Ange replied. "That's simple. We just fly back and…"

"It's not going to be that simple," Eric cut in, his Hizack's monoeye swinging left and right. "Lieutenant, you feel it too, right?"

"What, the line of sight that has been on me for the past few seconds?" Prezan asked. "Yeah, I feel it."

Something suddenly flashed across Amelia's vision.

"What was-!?"

Before she could finish her sentence, a massive beam shot across the group, narrowly missing Prezan's Jegan.

"Sniper!" she exclaimed. "Everyone, scatter!"

The trainees splintered off, most taking cover behind asteroids and debris. Eric's Hizack however, avoiding another beam in the process, zipped towards the direction the beams came from.

"Warrant Officer!" Prezan called. "Can you identify what is firing on us?"

"I'm not sure," Eric replied. "Probably some of the old Big Guns from the One Year War. Think of them as the Zeon equivalent to the Mega-Bazooka launcher."

"How the hell is that supposed to help!?" Ange exclaimed as she flew towards another piece of debris for cover.

"Use inverse calculations to find the enemy!" Brandon yelled. "If we don't destroy them we'll be screwed!"

"I can't calculate that fast!" Leila complained, desperately trying to control her GM in the confusion.

Something flashed across Amelia's vision. She looked around the area, desperately trying to figure out where this bad feeling was coming from.

Her eyes landed on Leila's GM Canard.

"Leila!" Amelia exclaimed. "Get behind cover!"

"Wait what!?" Leila exclaimed.

A beam suddenly burst out of nowhere, punching through the debris field towards Leila's GM Canard. The light from the beam blinded Leila's vision, who was frozen in fear, before a loud crashing noise echoed in the GM's cockpit.

Eric's Hizack leapt off of Leila's GM just as the beam passed between them. Eric, looking down at the screen in front of him, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"I burnt a couple thrusters…" he muttered. "The mechanic will probably hell at me."

He returned his attention to the sniper.

"Lieutenant," he called. "Can you move?"

Prezan's Jegan shook its head.

"Main thrusters are busted from all the shrapnel," she replied. "I can do covering fire, though."

Eric, once again, clicked his tongue in annoyance. He would have said something if it weren't for the fact that someone interrupted him.

"Um… everyone?" Amelia began. "I have a plan. This may sound crazy but…"

* * *

Author's notes: New chapter. Yay :D

I could probably do a better cliffhanger, but I feel like the scene would just drag on forever. Due to how the word length is greater than my usual stories, updates will be slow.]

Sorry :(

Please rate and review. It motivates me to write more.

-SPSH Karl


	3. Chapter 3

**Alexandria-class Cruiser Illustrious**

 **Bridge**

"Captain!" one of the operators exclaimed. "We have multiple contacts bearing down on us!"

"How many!?" Emden exclaimed, before bracing himself as a beam struck one of the Illustrious's turrets.

The turret exploded, sending fragments of metal everywhere.

"Turret number two has been destroyed!" another operator exclaimed.

"Minovsky Particle density is too high, but I caught a glimpse of three ships before our radar went down!" the previous operator stated. Emden nodded at this reply.

"XO," said he. "Do we have any spare units?"

"Aside from the recovered suit which we cannot get to open?" the XO replied. "We have one old Marasai from back when this ship belonged to the Titans, but it no longer functions. It's only good for spare parts."

"That will do," Emden said as another beam narrowly missed the Illustrious's bridge section.

"Cannibalize that Marasai for parts; use it to repair Ensign Krupp's Hizack." Emden barked a few more orders at the rest of the bridge crew before returning his attention to the XO.

"It'll be enough for one unit, no?"

"We don't have enough time!" the XO countered.

"We will need that suit once we get out of this mess," Emden replied calmly. "Give the thing a peg-leg for now, then. It should at least function as an AA turret."

XXXXX

"What the hell!?" Krupp exclaimed as he witnessed the massive steel T-bar being mounted to his mobile suit. "What are you guys doing!?"

"Better than no leg, right!?" a mechanic replied. "Do us a favor and pretend to be an AA turret, will you!?"

Krupp, though he understood the logic behind this decision, could not help but face palm at its execution.

"Fine," he replied. "At least give me all the ammo you can get me!"

XXXXX

 **Debris Field**

"Are you sure this is going to work!?" Ange exclaimed, barely avoiding a beam as she did so. "I don't know about the Lieutenant but we can barely hold out any longer!"

Lieutenant Prezan's training squadron, made up of Amelia and the others, still remained pinned down by the unknown Zeon snipers. Beams from the Big Gun weapons tore through the debris, spraying fragments everywhere.

"Hold on for a little longer!" Amelia replied. "I'm almost there!"

Amelia's Gemaux zipped left and right, barely avoiding the debris in its way.

Another beam fired in the direction of the group.

Amelia cringed at this, praying that the group managed to avoid the beam.

"Is everyone alright!?" she exclaimed. Thankfully, all of her friends, as well as Lieutenant Prezan, replied.

But what of Eric.

For a second, Amelia panicked at the lack of any reply from Eric. Before long, however, she noticed a single Hizack, its monoeye flashing in acknowledgement of Amelia's presence, zipping through the debris a few dozen meters away from her.

Amelia sighed in relief.

XXXXX

 **Musaka-class Cruiser Scharnhorst**

 **Bridge**

"Captain," an operator said. "We have a message from the Blucher. _'Operation proceeding as planned. Successfully cut off one of the enemy mobile suit squadrons. Remaining mobile suits are on standby. Awaiting orders.'_ "

"And exactly how many of their mobile suits are on standby?" Reuter asked. "The Blucher, if I remember correctly, is an Endra-class cruiser, is it not? I do believe their MS capabilities are fairly limited."

"You are correct, captain," an operator replied. "Of the Blucher's compliment of six mobile suits, two are currently being used to pin down the enemy MS squadron. That leaves four suits left for the main assault."

"Meanwhile, we also only have four suits," Reuter continued. "For a total of ten units, and half of the Guadalcanal's compliment is on its way to the enemy cruiser."

Reuter continued to mutter silently about his current situation.

"Considering the Guadalcanal is a Chivvay-class cruiser, it carries eight suits. That would mean four are currently attacking the enemy Alexandria-class while two are on sniper duty. If they manage to wipe out our first attack force, it still leaves us with three cruisers and twelve mobile suits."

One of the bridge crew noticed the worried look on Reuter's face.

"Sir?" the crew member asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing," Reuter told the crew member. The crew member nodded before returning to her post.

The worried look on Reuter's face still remained.

XXXXX

 **Debris Field**

A loud beeping noise suddenly echoed within the Rick Dom's cockpit. The pilot extended his long-range optics in an attempt to pick out the incoming object.

"Vincent!" the pilot said. "Watch out! Something is headed towards us."

 _"Is it an enemy Mobile Suit, Corporal Heinz?"_ Vincent asked. Heinz only shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll find out soon," he replied. The beeping turned into that of a higher pitch, indicating that something was indeed approaching. A beam, perhaps from the group of MS they had been attacking earlier, zipped past the two snipers.

 _"Eat this!"_ Vincent exclaimed, firing his Big Gun into the debris field from which the enemy beam came from. Heinz's Rick Dom looked over at Vincent's Zaku III in panic.

"Vincent! What are you doing!?" he exclaimed. "Don't give away our position!"

XXXXX

"There! Look!" Amelia exclaimed. "A beam!"

"I see it," Eric replied. "Two O'clock high, distance 800 meters. I'll distract it."

"Good luck," Amelia replied, ducking behind the cover of a large hunk of metal as she did so.

With a heavy kick, Eric's Hizack leapt off of one of the debris towards the first sniper. He jammed his foot pedals down as hard as he could, sending him rocketing forward.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

Left again.

A beeping echoed in the Hizack's cockpit as the machine's sensors picked up the opposing unit.

Eric raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"A Zaku III, huh?" he muttered to himself. "Never thought I would see one in action."

The Hizack leveled its machine gun at the Neo-Zeon suit before proceeding to open fire. 120mm shells zipped through the empty space between Eric and the Zaku III, managing to strike the Zaku III's Big Gun in multiple places.

"Holy shit!" Vincent exclaimed. He jumped away from the Big Gun as it exploded from the damage it received.

 _"Fall back Vincent!"_ Heinz ordered. _"I'll cover you!"_

The Rick Dom immediately shifted its aim towards Eric's Hizack before pulling the trigger.

"Shit," Eric muttered, before narrowly avoiding the Big Gun's beam.

 _"Warrant Officer!"_ Amelia exclaimed. _"There's another one!"_

"I can see that," Eric replied. "Do you know where that shot came from?"

A brief moment of silence followed.

 _"Yes!"_ Amelia replied. _"Yes, I do!"_

Eric could not help but smile a little.

"Handle that one, then," said he, before rocketing towards the now free-floating Zaku III.

Eric leveled the Hizack's machine gun and proceeded to unload another burst of 120mm shells towards the Zaku III's direction.

The Zaku, upon managing to regain its balance, successfully avoided the burst of machine gun fire before returning fire with a pair of beams from its waist-mounted beam cannons.

Eric returned the favor by avoiding these beams.

 _"What the hell!?"_ Vincent exclaimed. _"It's a bloody Hizack!"_

 _"Vincent! Get clear!"_ Heinz ordered. _"Let me get a clear shot!"_

Vincent fired another pair of beams at the Hizack before detaching one of the beam cannons. The Zaku III grabbed said beam cannon, turning the weapon into a beam sabre.

 _"It's just an outdated Hizack, Corporal!"_ Vincent replied. _"I can take him!"_

 _"This is an order, Private! Get clear!"_

 _"I can do this!"_

Vincent rocketed forward towards Eric's Hizack, firing random bursts from his other beam cannon. Eric calmly returned fire with his 120mm machine gun, managing to score some hits on the Neo-Zeon machine.

Meanwhile, Heinz struggled to line up a shot on the hostile Hizack. The enemy machine moved too fast, exchanging blow after blow with its more advanced counterpart.

Heinz gritted his teeth in frustration.

"He's moving so fast," Heinz muttered to himself. "Is he a fucking Newtype or something!?"

Indeed, Vincent was moving fairly fast as well, but that was simply because of the machine, not his skills. The fact that an extremely old Hizack could keep up with the Zaku III seemed like an amazing feat, let alone surpass the more advanced suit.

Suddenly, a number of pink beams punched through the Big Gun's receiver, causing the weapon to explode. Heinz's Rick Dom flinched back, desperately attempting to locate the aggressor. Another beam zipped past the Rick Dom as it desperately grabbed its 90mm machine gun.

"Found you!" Heinz exclaimed as he fired a round from the machine gun's underslung grenade launcher. The grenade sailed towards a nearby wreckage before detonating, revealing a single GM type mobile suit.

"What in the name of…?" the Zeon pilot muttered. "That's a Mobile Suit I've never seen before…"

The GM-type suddenly fired its beam rifle at the Rick Dom, barely grazing the Rick Dom's shoulder armor. In response, Heinz leveled the 90mm machine gun at the GM-type, firing a volley in the enemy suit's direction.

The 90mm shells glanced off the GM-type's shield, but managed to pin the suit in place. Seeing an opportunity, Heinz drew his Rick Dom's heat sabre and charged forward at the enemy suit.

XXXXX

"Why! Won't! You! Die!?" Vincent yelled as his Zaku III once again attempted to slice at the Hizack. "Just go down already!"

Eric simply scoffed at the pilot's random movements. Eric himself was not exactly the type of person who would show off or be full of himself, but he was very much tempted.

Sure the pilot of this Zaku III might be an expert sniper, but he has little knowledge about how to handle being spotted and engaged.

"Just like any other sniper," Eric muttered. The Hizack knocked the beam sabre out of the Zaku III's hand before hammering 120mm shells into its torso. Eric kicked the Zaku away from him before tearing apart the Zaku III's arms with his machine gun.

Before long, however, the Zaku III charged at Eric again, this time firing beams from its… mouth?

Eric quickly dodged the beam before drawing a beam sabre from his backpack and slashed at the armless Zaku III. He could feel the scream of the person he had just killed, and it did not feel good.

Eric grit his teeth as he completely melted the Zaku in two.

"Lagiorr here," he reported. "One enemy sniper down. Moving to destroy the second one."

 _"Good work Warrant Officer,"_ Prezan replied. _"Proceed with your objective. The rest of us will cover you."_

"Affirmative," Eric said, before he gunned the thrusters of his Hizack towards Amelia's position.

XXXXX

Amelia's first reaction to the attacking Rick Dom was to shield bash it in the face. She noticed the sensors on the Rick Dom's head blink a little bit before switching to an auxiliary camera.

"What should I…?!" Amelia muttered to herself, before finally deciding to open fire on the Rick Dom again. The beam tore off the Rick Dom's left arm, but it continued to charge forward at Amelia's Gemaux.

The Rick Dom's heat sabre then sliced through the Gemaux's beam rifle, causing the weapon to explode. Amelia motioned for the Gemaux to grab one of its shoulder mounted beam sabres, immediately slashing at the Rick Dom once the blade was drawn.

Amelia managed to slice open a gash in the Rick Dom's cockpit section and, with some elegance, sliced off the arms of the Rick Dom. The Zeon suit countered with a kick, and attempted to retreat from the battle, but Amelia threw her Gemaux's shield at the Rick Dom, causing it to lose balance.

She gunned her suit's thrusters forward, a second beam sabre now drawn. The Gemaux slashed the legs off of the Rick Dom, before moving to stab the enemy mobile suit in the chest.

Then Amelia saw the enemy pilot, clearly visible within the gash in the Rick Dom's torso section.

She tried to stop her suit from jamming its sabres into the enemy, but it was pointless.

The sabres found themselves lodged in the enemy MS's torso before the Rick Dom exploded into a fireball.

XXXXX

 **Musaka-class cruiser Scharnhorst**

 **Bridge**

"Lieutenant-Colonel, sir," an operator called. "We have just received a message from the Blucher. They say that they lost contact with their sniper units."

Reuter nodded in acknowledgement.

"What of the Guadalcanal's preliminary attack?" he asked.

"We lost two MS in the attack," the operator replied. "However, we have confirmed three enemy suits destroyed, two out of action, and disabling a number of weapons systems on the enemy cruiser."

"Very well," Reuter said. "Have the attack force return to the Guadalcanal. With our numbers, we cannot continue this any longer."

"Are we retreating, sir?" the operator asked, to which Reuter shook his head.

"Not yet," said he. "Our resident Martian needs to have some time to fight first. We will fall back for now and regroup. The moment the enemy exits this debris area, we will strike."

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious**

 **Mobile Suit Hanger**

Amelia gasped for air.

Desperately, she attempted to calm herself down after her experience against the two Zeon snipers.

If only she had not noticed the pilots.

If only…

"You alright, Amy?" Ange asked, floating over to Amelia as she did so. Amelia nodded, not wanting to show any sign of weakness to her friends.

It's not like they did not know.

Amelia exited the hanger and entered the hallway leading further within the ship. She continued to float to her quarters so she could get some sleep.

Not like she expected to get much sleep in the first place. When those around her said that war was hell, they were not kidding.

She could remember the sight of her parents, scolding her for wanting to go to a school they did not approve of. They tried everything to persuade her not to go, but to no avail. This was her first year at her new school, and things were not going as well as she would have like them to.

Amelia entered the gravity block, her footsteps echoing as they made contact with the floor below.

How long had she been walking?

It should not have taken so long to get from the hanger to the gravity block; after all, the Alexandria-class was only a cruiser.

Amelia sighed, the thoughts of the past few hours still haunting her.

Suddenly, a pair of footsteps echoed from the entrance to the gravity block. Amelia turned around, slowly, to find young boy in a green and gold uniform standing behind her.

Eric, maintaining his fairly unamused look, raised an eyebrow in surprise upon noticing Amelia's presence.

"Um…" Eric began awkwardly. "Good job out there."

Such words were the last thing Amelia wanted to hear. She clicked her tongue in annoyance at the comment, an act Eric did not fail to notice.

He ignored Amelia's action, however, and proceeded to walk past her.

Amelia, finally unable to contain the turmoil in her head, wheeled around to face Eric.

"How do you bear it?" she questioned, like a child requesting guidance from an older sibling.

Eric paused at the question.

"What do you mean?" he finally countered, very much aware of the question she was about to toss at him.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Amelia burst out, before realizing what she had just done.

"Sorry," she muttered. Eric waved off Amelia's apology, maintaining his emotionless look as he did so.

"It's fine," he replied. "I'm going to assume you want an honest answer?"

Amelia nodded.

Eric turned around to face her, his previously emotionless face now bearing a serious look.

"You're just going to get used to it," he said. "For better or for worse."

Amelia shifted her gaze from Eric.

"I see…"

Seconds past as silence enveloped the two.

Amelia finally broke the silence.

"Is there any way around that?" she asked, hoping for some sort of alternate path which would save her from her agonizing pain.

Unfortunately, Eric shook his head.

"Denial, I guess?" said he. "Ignorance is bliss after all. I'm sure that would just hurt you more in the long run, though. I wouldn't recommend it."

Amelia averted her gaze again.

"Why are you asking me, though?" Eric continued. "Lieutenant Prezan and the others have more experience with this. Try asking them."

This realization hit Amelia like a freight train. Why didn't she go straight to the people with more experience in life?

The intercom crackled to life.

 _"Warrant Officer Lagiorr,"_ the intercom said. _"Please come to the main hanger immediately. Repeat…"_

Eric shrugged.

"Sorry," said he. "Got to go." Eric leapt back out of the gravity block and floated in the direction of the hanger, leaving Amelia within the gravity block.

A little early, yes, but this was the life Amelia asked for, and she got it. She already reached her answer, for now, so why was she so confused?

XXXXX

 **Alexandria-class Cruiser Illustrious**

 **Main Hanger**

"Alright," Eric muttered. "What did I do wrong this time?"

He floated through the hanger, past damaged Jegan-type mobile suits and mechanical personnel, and landed on the hanger floor.

"Eric!" Krupp called. "Over here!"

Eric floated towards his superior before landing with a distinct clacking noise as the magnetic soles of his shoes hit to the floor.

"What's going on, sir?" Eric asked. Then he noticed what stood in front of him.

"Is that… your Hizack, Ensign?" Eric said in curiosity. Krupp nodded in pride.

"Yup," said he. "Fully upgraded and ready to go."

Eric sighed.

"But that's not what I called you here for," Krupp continued. "Remember that thing?"

He pointed at the white single-horned mobile suit they recovered earlier.

"Seems like the Anaheim guy is having problems gaining access to it," Krupp said. He shifted his gaze towards Eric.

"Did you do something to that suit?"

Eric simply shrug his shoulders.

"No idea," said he. "Is that all?"

Krupp sighed at this response before patting the young soldier on the back.

"That will be all, Warrant Officer," said he. "Make sure you don't cause that Fed lieutenant much trouble. Got it?"

Eric rolled his eyes.

"Yes sir."

* * *

Author's notes: Hi guys, it's Karl the Arty :D

Here's chapter three for this particular fic. I hope I can get relatively far in this fic before I graduate high school. Please stay with this fic until the very end please.

Please review. It motivates me to write more :)

Thanks

-SPSH Karl


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